Speech recognition systems are well known and have been used in many applications. Generally, speech recognition systems involve converting spoken words to machine code. Speech recognition systems are used in automotive applications and allow a user to give input to a vehicle communications system. That input can then be used to effectuate the user's commands. Often, the speech recognition system will ask a user a question and allow a user a certain amount of time to respond to the question. For example, the user could be provided an extensive menu of available selections. And it can take the user a variable amount of time to read and interpret the menu selections. In the meantime, the speech recognition system waits for a response for a fixed amount of time, but does not compensate when the user needs more time to complete his or her selections.